The Christmas Present

“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria). And all went to be taxed, every one to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them at the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.” Luke 2: 1-16

And to their testimonies, I add mine...that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God, our brother and our Saviour, thru Him death was conquered, thru Him all things can be healed and made new again, I have seen it, I have felt it. I know it. That's the view from my side of the street, what's yours?

Christmas Parade

Another favorite Christmas memory of mine is the Christmas Parade. This happened a few decades ago when I was young, energetic and knew no limits. Our small Maine town had a Christmas parade after Thanksgiving each year. I think it was meant to start the shopping fever. The floats were beautifully designed and promoted by the town's stores. The final float held an amazingly “real” Santa's workshop. There in full glory was the old man himself waving and ho-ho-hoing for all he was worth. His elves threw out candy to the cheers of the children and dismay of most of the parents.

One particular year I stood on the sidewalk with my children and watched the entire parade. As I watched each float go by, I wondered at the emptiness I was feeling. The floats were pretty but meaningless. I realized that the more spiritual side of Christmas was being neglected. I thought, “There really should be a religious float included. After all, it is Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Or a Hanukkah float or well...something to feed our souls.”

In true Walter Middy fashion, I began to visualize this float. First, music....probably couldn't get the Mormon Tabernacle Choir but well, maybe speakers playing their music. Next, some beautifully costumed figures representing Joseph, Mary, the Wise Men and shepherds. Maybe some real animals... oh, yes, it would be so awesome. I wasn't in a position to do this myself but I did speak to a few people at my church. Nothing.

A year passed. Two weeks before the parade was scheduled, I was given the calling of PR director for my church. The first thing I thought of was my vision of the Christmas Parade float. Whoo-hoo! I could do this! I contacted town officials, squeaked by the deadlines and voila, I had a float permit. Now what could I do in a week?

One member of the church had a flatbed truck for his lumber yard. Another provided hay bales to line the edges to keep participants from falling. One more built a simple manger. One young man provided the signs we attached to the front and back of the truck. The front sign stated “That God so loved the world...” and the back sign read, “ that He gave His only Begotten Son.”

No time for any kind of music rigging or for fancy costumes. Children played the parts of the Nativity scene dressed in towels and sheets. One pet lamb was tied on with the children. It was simple. It was plain. As a matter of fact, as the floats lined up before beginning, all we had was the truck. Parade officials looked at us very strangely. I assured them all was well and hid behind a tree as I cried in frustration.

Slowly but surely it began to come together. Children were still being loaded on as we took our first corner. I sat in the cab with my husband driving and a baby on my lap. I had failed God. I was so embarrassed that I wanted to hide my face. But as I apologized in prayer for such a plain and simple float, my being was filled with warmth and I heard these words in my heart, “And she brought forth her first born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke1:7

More tears fell but they were tears of joy and understanding. Jesus' birth was simple and plain...and incredible. I began now to notice the reactions of the crowd. I saw some crying, I heard people holler out their thank yous, I watched fathers hold up their children to see “the baby Jesus”. Along the entire parade route people broke into spontaneous clapping and the float received more than one standing ovation.

I thought that perhaps others had felt as empty as I had with earlier parades. I though of how hungry we all are for spiritual experiences. But mostly, I was feeling thankful for the plain and simple beginning to an extraordinary life that has changed so many lives including mine.

I hope we will all take moments this holiday season to celebrate life with all it's ups and downs and maybe even send a whispered “Thank you” heavenward. That's the view from my side of the street, what's yours?

Christmas Miracle

Christmas memories have been flooding my mind and unlike the last few years these memories are good. Our favorite Christmas tradition was to do something good for someone else usually anonymously. It brought a sense of joy and fun. My sons were particularly good at sneaking a package to a door, ringing the doorbell and running to a predetermined hiding place. This took study and planning. They felt like secret agents!!

One of my favorite Christmas surprises was the year that we did the manger sets. The year before I had bought five or six manger sets at Wal-Mart during the after Christmas sales. We wrapped each piece of the nativity scene and attached a corresponding scripture to it. We numbered them and placed them in baskets with instructions to open one a night. The first gift opened was the manger. The last gift opened was the baby Jesus on Christmas day.

The hustle and bustle that went into this project was fun and provided many teaching moments but we did hit a snag. I hadn't noticed that one of the sets I had bought had dark skinned, Hispanic type figures. The list we had prayerfully put together consisted of only white people. What were we going to do with that one?

I pondered all the options. I felt that we did indeed need to give it to someone. But who? I prayed some more and a young couple in our neighborhood kept popping into my head. But they were very white from a very white family in town. I kept asking, really? I kept being told yes. So, we did it.

The next year they found out that they couldn't have children. They began the long, arduous task of adoption. They had made the decision to adopt children that were in the Family Services system. After a long wait, two young sisters were given to them. They were Hispanic. Over the years, they adopted three more children. All of them were of Hispanic descent.

One year, after their third adoption I was in the house for a neighborhood party. It was Christmas time. The simple nativity scene was set up in a prominent place. One of the guests remarked on it's uniqueness. Then I was privileged to hear “the rest of the story”.

She related how delighted they were at the Christmas surprise package and how much fun they had opening each figure. But they had been confused by the skin color. Maybe it had been a mistake, maybe this was supposed to be for someone else...but they were tickled anyway.

Each year they set up the scene with the same delight and confusion. Until the Christmas after they had adopted the girls. This time as she unwrapped and set up each figure, her eyes filled with tears. The figures looked like her new daughters! She related that she realized the gift had not been a mistake but a miracle.

And I agree. It was a miracle. A gift from an all knowing God. I have never told her that it was my family that gave her the basket. But how privileged I felt to know that a loving God had used my family to help Him. This Christmas, look around you, open your eyes and your heart, find something to do for someone. God can do all things but sometimes he needs human hands to help. Be those hands and you will truly experience the Christmas spirit. That's the view from my side of the street, what's yours?.

The Littlest Angel

Shortly after I reestablished my Internet...my laptop died. But the stars have aligned. All is well and here I am writing again. I'm crossing my fingers that it stays this way!

When I was a little girl, my favorite Christmas story was that of “The Littlest Angel”. It was an old Golden book that I had and oh, how I loved it. It was also made into a short TV movie. I have that movie and while the special effects are ancient and yes, even laughable compared to today, I still love the story.

The story is of a little shepard boy who dies suddenly and finds himself in Heaven. He is miserable and forlorn because Heaven isn't anything like he is used to. There are no trees to climb or sheep to herd or rocks to find. It seemingly has nothing to offer a young, active boy. He causes trouble because he just can't seem to get anything right...he doesn't fit in and he is homesick.

He is allowed to go back to earth to retrieve his “treasure box”. It is his most loved possession. He is in hopes that having that with him will ease his homesickness. He tries to talk to his parents but of course, they can't hear him.

He returns to Heaven with his simple box filled with the “treasures” of earth. The box holds a robin's egg, some feathers, a pretty rock and other such things that are indeed, treasures to a small boy. He is happy to have his box but still struggles to fit in and be like the other angels.

An announcement shakes up Heaven. The Son of God is about to be born. All of Heaven begins it's excited mission to prepare for this glorious event. Each angel is preparing beautiful gifts for the babe. The littlest angel is again forlorn. He has nothing to give to the Son of God. He is heartbroken.

At the last minute he thinks of his box. It is all he has. Should he give that to the Christ child? Yes. He places it with the other gifts. It has never looked so plain...so shabby...so simple as when placed among the exquisite gifts of the other angels. He is ashamed. Why did he do it?! The other angels are looking at him. He begins to slink away.

Then...the most amazing thing happens...God picks up his simple offering and declares it the best present of all...it was given in love...it was given in sacrifice...it was truly a gift of the heart. God explains that it holds the wonders of earth, the treasures that His Son will also experience and love. He states that as the best gift it will become very special indeed...God turns the shabby treasure box of a small shepard boy into the Christmas Star...the new star that declares to the entire world that Jesus Christ is born.

This is the season that we celebrate that birth in all it's wonders. We give gifts, go to parties, concerts, etc. We endure the crowds, spend time with family and friends, bake cookies, sing songs and do so many other things that mean Christmas to us. But the most important gifts of Christmas will always be those of the heart...given in love...perhaps with some sacrifice involved. Gifts of time, service, caring and thoughtfulness are the true gifts we can give. Those are the gifts that best celebrate the gift God gave us ...the gift of His Only Begotten Son.

That's the view from my side of the street, what's yours?

Sabbatical

In July I decided to take a little time off from my writing. You know....a vacation like most people get. Little did I know that a one month planned sabbatical would evolve into a five month forced time off. It would have been impossible to guess that I would not only give up my writing but find myself offline for such an extended period of time. But a number of heated arguments with our phone/internet provider about lousy service and elevated rates lead to a mutual disconnect agreement. I had no idea how hard it was going to be to find a new provider in our tiny country town.

Some providers don't come out “this far”. Others made promises they could not keep , apparently our trees interfere too much with their signals. Still others sound good but if you use your internet for everything as we were accustomed to doing, it could get quite costly! In the meantime, life marched on at a rather steady speed and I found myself caring less and less about getting “hooked up”.

But eventually it became essential once again. I have missed pictures and notes from friends and family. I have missed Skyping with my grandchildren. But I truly missed INFORMATION! I can't tell you how many times a day I headed to my desk to look up something...important somethings...trivial somethings...even life saving somethings. The first day I was online I spent half the night checking into my sister in laws strange symptoms. The doctors haven't known what is wrong with her but By, George, I think I've got it!

It has taken me another week, however, to feel ready to start my blog up again. Just like any other routine we let go, I have forgotten how to do this. So if you are an old reader, give me a few blogs to get back up to speed. If you are a new one, be patient, it might be worth it. My life has changed in so many ways over the past five months. I hope I can get back with the program and make the time to do this thing I love so much. That's the view from my side of the street, what's yours?